Working in a nursing home my senior year of high school was the best thing a young woman could do. My job was sitting in the office at night and on weekends, answering the phone, answering questions, filing papers, giving tours to interested family members, giving mail to the residents, and making copies. Yes, at times it was hectic and other times it was boring sitting in the office but it was so worth it. Just being in a nursing home can teach you so much.

1. You learn how to multitask.

Whether you're making copies and the phone rings or your filing papers and a resident is talking to you, you have to learn how to multitask.

2. You learn to keep a smile on your face even if you had a terrible day at school.

Even if you had a terrible day at school or home, you still need to have a smile on your face working with the elderly. The residents are always trying to tell you something or have you do something, so keep smiling through the pain and after you can cry or be mad.

3. You learn to become friends with the residents.

Either giving the residents mail or walking past them they will always tell you something. Being friendly and listening to their story or just pushing their wheelchair to where they need to go is something they love. Say "hi" to the residents you walk past, ask them how their day is going, maybe it will make their day. They get lonely sometimes.

4. You learn a lot about the residents' lives.

Talking to the residents, you learn so much. A lot of residents love talking about their past, like how they grew up and where they grew up. Listening to what the residents have to say can teach you so much.

5. You learn that flowers or even a card mean so much.

Sometimes the residents get very lonely if their family or a friend doesn't come visit them regularly. Even if they get a card or flowers, it can make their day.

6. You learn celebrating a 100th birthday can mean so much to a family.

Celebrating a birthday is a big deal in nursing homes especially if it's a 100th birthday. Being alive for that many years is amazing which calls for the family to come and bring balloons to celebrate with everyone!

7. You learn that going to work is always going to be interesting and different than any other day.

Every day you walk in the building, there is always something new going on. No day is like any other even if you have the same amount of filing or extra phone calls. It might be someones birthday, or a residents extended family comes to visit and there is a lot of extra noise.

8. You learn when you need to walk away from a resident that's upset with you.

Whether you walked in a residents room to give them a letter or you walked the wrong way, you will always make a resident mad. You learn to leave the card on their bedside table and leave or keep walking when you are apparently in their way. Don't take any other mean things a resident says to you to heart, sometimes they are not always 100% there.

9. You learn to get used to the nursing home smell.

We all know when you walk into a nursing home there is a distinct smell. All I have to say is old people all smell the same. You get used to it once you've been at work for 4 hours.

10. You learn how to perfectly open an envelope for someone.

If your passing mail out to the residents, at least one resident will ask you to open their letter, you better open it right or they will be mad.

11. You lean that you can have a terrible day and then the next day will be 100% better.

Being with the residents a lot each week, you know that having a terrible day doesn't mean the next day will be as terrible too. A resident might have had a bad day with their health but the next day they will be on the track to getting better. You never know what tomorrow holds in a nursing home.

12. You learn how a sad place can be fun at times.

Some people think of a nursing home as a sad place but working there can be fun at times. Whether a resident comes to your office and gives you something they made or a resident said something very funny that you have to tell the nurses so you can all laugh together.

There is always something fun throughout the day that happens even if its something little like watching the old women get their nails painted.

13. You learn how to enjoy the little things in life.

Hearing story after story from the residents, you realize that you should enjoy the little things. Sometimes I hear the residents get excited because there is chocolate pudding for dessert. You just have to enjoy life even if it might be hard.

14. You learn that your life is short.

Life is very short. It might not seem like it now but being with the residents 20 hours a week makes you realize that you should talk to that guy you think is cute. You never know what will happen tomorrow.

15. You learn that the people you see every day in the nursing home can mean so much to you even if you didn't think they would.

Working in a nursing home for 20 weeks causes you to make friends with the residents and learn from them. When I had to leave for college, I soon realized that a lot of those residents I saw all the time were going to be missed while I was away even though I didn't know them before I started working there. The biggest lesson I learned was that you never know how much someone means to you until they leave.